Corporate Innovation...beyond the hype

Pivotus Ventures was setup two years ago with an aggressive mandate. Figure out how to pivot Umpqua Bank. Figure out how to ensure this iconic institution, that fundamentally redefined the face of community banking twenty years ago, will remain relevant and thrive for the next twenty years. It was a big ask and we were scared!

For the last two years we have been flying under the radar toiling away. No snazzy press releases about proof-of-concepts with startups, no investments in a flashy corporate venture capital fund, no co-branded accelerators, none of the traditional things you see coming out of the boardrooms of far too many publicly traded institutions.

This was intentional.

At a certain point in your career you have to ask yourself...would you rather fail after trying something you considered impossible or succeed after trying something you knew was probable. We decided to pursue the former. In our very first meeting with Ray Davis (Former CEO of Umpqua Bank) we somewhat belligerently, by some people’s standards, drew a line in the sand. We explained that we don’t do innovation theatre, we don’t build throw away concepts, we don’t participate in the conference naval-gazing circuit...the the only thing we do is consistently find ways to use technology to transform the way businesses operate, earn money and create shareholder value.

Fast forward two years; last week Umpqua started unveiling the very early stages of what we think is going to be an exciting future for the bank. On the Q3 Earnings call Cort O’Haver (CEO of Umpqua Bank) spent a few minutes talking about the work that Pivotus has done to help enable a few key parts of the Umpqua Nextgen strategy (here’s the transcript.)

Earlier this month we expanded our highly successful pilot of Pivotus' digital platform which provides customers with direct access to their own dedicated banker. We're using digital tools to democratize private banking and the scale and reach of our people. Our human digital strategy adds significant convenience and service for customers and affords us the ability to better leverage and scale the business going forward.

What we have accomplished as a team is exceptional, but ironically on that particular day I was most proud of the fact that there was but a single, passing mention of “innovation.” This is what corporate innovation done right looks like... substance over fluff, actions over words, outcomes over ideas, people over process...these things create real shareholder value and at the end of the day shareholders seemed to like what they heard.

Long may it continue...we’re just getting stared!!!